Fionn Fitzgerald says Dr Crokes won’t fall flat again

There’s no side-stepping the issue anymore. No more games left to deflect the conversation. As Johnny Buckley put it on his way back into the Crokes dressing-room on Sunday, now they can “officially” begin talking about an All-Ireland club semi-final.

They tell us there has been no mention of it all year. The failed semi-final attempts of 2012, ’13 and ’14 were in the past and the recapturing of Kerry and Munster titles was in no way motivated by a collective desire to earn a shot at redemption next February. The approach has been to take it one game at a time, or so went the party line after each victory.

Behind closed doors, you get a sense the narrative ran differently.